2 Students Win Top Honors Among `Best Of The Best'

Alex Berrio Matamoros is just about to graduate from high school, and he has the resume of a busy executive.

Member of the Allentown Human Relations Commission. President of the Allentown Council of Youth. Athletic trainer. Student Council representative. The list goes on.

Katie Shannon's schedule proves as busy: Basketball and track team member. Sunday school teacher. President of the French Club. Member of the Key Club and SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions, formerly Students Against Drunk Driving).

Matamoros, of Central Catholic High School in Allentown, and Shannon, of Phillipsburg High School in New Jersey, recently were selected as the top two graduating seniors in the Lehigh Valley area by Cohen, Feeley and Ortwein, the law firm that sponsors the "Best of the Best" awards.

They each received a $550 award to apply toward college expenses. Matamoros will attend Harvard University and Shannon, the University of Pennsylvania. Both plan careers in medicine. Matamoros wants to be an orthopedic surgeon and Shannon, a pediatrician.

The two students were among more than 20 from area high schools honored by the law firm this year and in the running for the top awards.

"It's one of the greatest things that has happened to me," Matamoros said, pleased that he emerged as the best among the best of his high school peers throughout the Lehigh Valley. "It's a great honor."

Shannon agreed. "One of the lawyers was explaining to us how hard the decision was. It just makes you feel really good," she said.

It was their extracurricular activities and outstanding academic performance that rocketed Matamoros and Shannon to the top of the pack. Matamoros has a 3.67 grade point average and Shannon a 3.9. Each scored over 1300 on their Scholastic Assessment Test with Shannon getting a 1360 and Matamoros a 1390.

Both students said they find their involvement in extracurricular activities personally rewarding.

"You open up so many more doors," Shannon said. "You allow yourself to find interests that you never knew existed."

She credited her parents for encouraging her to get involved.

Matamoros said he has always been interested in making a difference in someone's life. As a seventh grader at Sacred Heart Elementary School, he helped to start an environmental club.

He said his high level of involvement helped him to get into Harvard.

"If all you do is go home and study, you're not well-rounded," he said.

Among his activities, Matamoros participated in America's Promise: The Alliance for Youth/President's Summit for America's Future in 1997. He met Oprah Winfrey, Colin Powell and other famous people. He is a member of the National Honor Society.

He logged more than 2,000 hours as an athletic trainer at Central Catholic, helping out the football, wrestling and other teams. Among other activities, Matamoros also got involved in the religious aspects of the school, serving as vice president of pastoral life.

Matamoros' favorite class is government.

For Shannon, anatomy and physiology topped the list. She said the class dissected a shark and most recently, a cat.

Shannon believes her extracurricular activities helped to get her into an Ivy League school. Besides those already listed, she also is a member of the National Honor Society and student council.

She said the only hard part is that the more she achieves, the more people expect.

"You have to get through each day doing what you're doing without just crashing and burning," she said.